The History of Sweden
1946 -October,6 -prime minister Per Albin Hansson dies from a sudden & fatal heart attack as he steps off a tram while on his way home from work, education minister Tage Erlander succeeds him as prime minister -1950 -King Gustaf V dies & is succeeded by his son, who becomes King Gustaf VI Adolf -1952 -June,13 -a Swedish air force C-47 Dakota is shot down by the Soviets while on a reconnaisse mission, killing 8 crew members -June,16 -Two Swedish PBY-5 Catalinas are attacked by the Soviets as they search for survivors of the Dakota shot down three days previously, one of them is lost but the crew survives -July, 1 -Swedish ocean liner MS Stockholm is sunk by a mine, around 500 passengers & crew are lost -July, 10 -PM Erlander asks the US for assistance in dealing with Soviet aggression, he is denied any support from them. He then ask the British, who sends a Royal Navy carrier task force(which forces the Soviets to back down on August, 15) -1953 -With help of British PM Winston Churchill, PM Erlander forms a defensive alliance with the prime ministers of Norway & Denmark(the Scandanavian Defense Alliance is formed) -1958 -Early elections, caused by the collaspe of the incumbent Social Democratic-Centre coaltion government, result in a centre-right coalition government led by Rightist party leader Jarl Hjalmarson consisting of the Rightist, Centre & Liberal parties. It collaspes in 1960 with the Social Democrats under Tage Erlander returning to government. -the 1960's -With British assistance & support, Sweden builds it's first nuclear weapons -1967 -PM Erlander warns Finnish president Kekkonen on the dangers of allying too closely with the Soviets on what was to be the last visit by a Finnish leader to Sweden(Finland joins the Warsaw Pact the next year) -1969 -Erlander retires, is succeeded by foriegn minister Olaf Palme -1971 -The parliament of Sweden is reformed into a single chamber, the Riksdag -1973 -King Gustaf VI Adolf dies, is succeeded by his grandson, who becomes King Carl XVI Gustaf. The 1973 general elections were held the next day, as scheduled, resulting in a centre-right coaltion government led by Centre party leader Thorbjorn Falldin. -1975 -New consitution reduces the power of the Swedish monarch to a ceremonial head of state -1978 -Disagreements within the governing coalition over taxation policy forces PM Falldin to resign, deputy prime minister & foriegn minister(also leader of the Liberal People's party) Ola Ullsten becomes prime minister as head of a minority Liberal People's party government -1979 -after fresh elections, former PM Falldin manages to reform his coalition government & returns as prime minister -also in 1979 -New succession act allows any firstborn of the monarch to succeed, instead of male-first succession -1970's-1980's -Sweden welcomes thousands of Finnish Swedes into the country as they flee from heavy ethnic discrimination in Finland -1981 -October, 27-November, 5 -the "Whiskey on the rocks" crisis, as a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine, equipped with nuclear-tipped torpedoes, runs aground on the Swedish coast. Tense negotiations ensue between the Soviets & Sweden, with a deal to release the submarine made. Swedish tugs manage to free the submarine, they escort it pass the watchful eyes of a Royal Navy carrier task force to Soviet warships waiting in international waters(it was later revealed that had negotiation failed, Swedish Special Operations commandos with help of the British SBS would then be ordered to storm the submarine) -1982 -PM Falldin loses the election with former PM & leader of the opposition Olaf Palme becoming prime minister -1986 -Febuary,28 -PM Palme is assassinated by a unknown assassin as he walks home from a cinema with his wife after watching a late-night movie, he is succeeded by Invar Carlsson -1988 -The Social Democrats form a coalition government with the Green party after the 1988 election -1990 -The Swedish economy goes into a recession(it will eventually end in 1997) -1991 -April, 1 -To end the ongoing ethnic cleansing going on in the Aland islands against ethnic Swedes, Swedish marines intervene & clash with Finnish troops conducting the ethnic cleansing -April, 3-7 -Soviet & Finnish troops invade northern Sweden(they will be stopped & start retreating on April, 6 just south of the town of Lulea) -April, 6 -Finnish nuclear weapons destroy major Swedish military bases & cities(including Stockholm, where King Carl XVI Gustaf & PM Carlsson refuse evacuation & are killed in the nuclear blast) -April, 7 -With the prime minister dead & the royal family missing, deputy prime minister Odd Erik Lennart Engstrom takes over as interim prime minister & orders the retaliation launch of Swedish nuclear weapons against Finnish military bases & major cities -April, 10 -Crown Princess Victoria is found at an old couple's home in Uppsala(myths & rumours continue to this very day as to how she got there), she becomes Queen Victoria -October -With Stockholm destroyed, the Swedish government decides to move to nearby Uppsala, making it the new capital of Sweden -1992 -January -the Emergency Domestic Defense Act is put into force, banning the pro-Soviet Left party & the far-right New Democracy party -1992-1994 -Swedish troops occupy & incorporate into the Swedish kingdom the Aland islands & northern Finland -1993 -June -Along with British Royal Marines, Swedish troops intervene in Denmark to overthrow the pro-US military junta & end the Danish civil war -1994 -September,28 -while on a voyage between Gavle & Trelleborg, the RoRo ferry MV Estonia sinks, killing 852 people(it would be discovered that the bow door broke off due to faulty post-war maintainance) -1998 -Acting PM Engstrom suffers a fatal heart attack two weeks before the first general elections since the war(becoming the 3rd prime minister in a row to die in office; Palme in 1986 & Carlsson in 1991), deputy prime minister(& Uppsala native) Lena Hjelm-Wallen leads the governing Social Democrats to victory & becoming Sweden's first female prime minister(She is re-elected in 2002) -1998-2001 -The Social Democrats govern Sweden in a coaltion of national unity with the Moderate, Liberal People's, Centre & Green parties. -2002 -A new Social Democratic-led coalition government is formed with the Centre & Green parties. -2006 -PM Hjelm-Wallen loses the elections as respected economist & Moderate party leader Anders Borg becomes prime minister as leader of the Alliance for Sweden non-socialist coalition(comprising the Moderate, Centre, Liberal People's & Christian Democratic parties), he is re-elected in 2010 -2009 -The Millenium novel trilogy, writtened & postumously published by Steig Larsson, becomes a international hit around the world(It, & the subsquent movie triology, becomes a welcome escape for most people dealing with the reality of living in a post-nuclear war world), in 2011 an pro-U.S., anti-Swedish propaganda parody version of the first book was made & released in the United States(however, due to lack of interest by the audiences, propagandic parody versions of the other two books were later cancelled). -2014 -Ander Borgs retires as Prime Minister & is replaced by Defense Minister Karin Enstrom, who forms a coaltion government consisting of the Moderate, Liberal People's & Green parties. Category:History Category:Country Category:Political Category:Sweden